


Next Time

by ijustwantacue



Category: GOT7
Genre: Ambition, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 02:29:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14322567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ijustwantacue/pseuds/ijustwantacue
Summary: Bambam is your always sleeping classmate, who begs you to let him borrow your notes before the exams.





	Next Time

You brace yourself before stepping inside the school grounds. Your school never changed, still the same buildings, strict teachers, chatty students—oh and look! There’s the laziest student you’ve unfortunately got acquainted with. This—He has been the reason why you were gathering strength before going to school.

“Good morning!”  he says enthusiastically, even daring to put a hand up for a high-five.

“Bambam…” you start to say.

“What?” he asks defensively.  He puts his neglected hand to his chest. “I haven’t said anything yet.”

Yet. You know what mischief he’s about to do that’s why you were quick to warn him. You’ve known Bambam for a while, but only befriended him recently. He’s been on a different class all this time so you only ever heard of him the past years. Half of the rumours you heard about him claims that he’s a genius. Even though he’s apparently just sleeping through all his classes, he passes the subjects all the time. The other half, of course, is something malicious. People claim that he used his good looks to charm teachers into passing him, even though he obviously flunked all tests due to his laziness.

You know that the latter is false. And no, it’s not because Bambam is not handsome—you know that he is even though, gun on your head, you won’t say it on his face. You’re sure that him being a genius is quite a stretch too. You learned his real _strategy_ when you befriended him the first day of this school year. And it’s not much of an intelligently planned scheme but more of a result of desperate need to pass.

Bambam approached you on the first day of this school year for a casual chat. Like, he just introduced himself so that you would know that he exists. You rarely get the chance to talk to him after that since he is always—always just sleeping in class. He made use of his tall friend Yugyeom, who was sitting in front of him, to cover his sleeping-like-a-baby self.

Bambam only ever greeted you if he saw you while going to or coming home. And your longest conversations would be the days before the exam, when he’ll plead you to lend him your notes.

That’s today. This is when he executes his well-honed plan.

“No,” you firmly say.

“What do you mean no?” he says in a pout.

You sigh. “You’re going to ask me if you can borrow my notes. No, Bambam. I told you the last time; you should start taking down your own.”

“I’ll help you with your bag!” he starts reaching behind you but you swiftly dodge.

“No,” you start walking away.

This has been your routine since the first exams. While the rumour of him charming teachers is false, he actually does use his charms in order to pass. The prior years, he pestered the smartest among his friends, Park Jinyoung, and that’s how he managed to study a three-month worth of lectures in one night. Jinyoung is very organised so Bambam didn’t have any problems understanding the complicated lessons. Jinyoung also has a soft spot for Bambam since he watched the latter grow to be the handsome yet procrastinating guy that he is now.

Since Jinyoung started taking advance classes in the city, Bambam was forced to find a new source. His first choice was his bestfriend Yugyeom. Unfortunately, Yugyeom’s handwriting is that of a third grader and Bambam can’t spare another hour deciphering his notes.

“I’ll walk you home starting today!” he starts walking beside you, his eyes not leaving your face. “I can also walk you to school but I don’t know where you live.”

“Thankfully,” you comment before turning left to the entrance of the first building. Bambam almost went straight since he’s not looking at the path.

“Please, this will really be the last time!” he now clings to your arm.

“I’ve heard that one before.”

“Well, this time it’s true because we’re graduating.”

“Which means that you really have to start working on your own cause the real world won’t be handing you notes. You’ll learn them yourself. Don’t you have any ambitions?”

At this, Bambam abruptly stops and since he’s holding onto you, you have to stop too. You are about to complain about getting late to class but then you see how his smile becomes smaller and a bit hesitant.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” you ask in worry, putting a hand over his that’s on your arm.

He looks up to you with a little shy smile. “I actually don’t know what to do yet. I don’t… have any ambitions or dreams.”

“Wow, that’s really ironic coming from a guy who sleeps all day,” you try to joke but it’s evident that the topic made him a little anxious.

Even though you don’t really know much about each other, you’ve already been used to his presence every now and then. You think you’ll actually miss having someone bother you before every exam. You never asked why Bambam always just sleeps in class because you’re too busy telling him to stop the bad habit. Seeing him right now, he must be having problems planning about his future. That must be why he chooses not to face it through sleeping a lot.

“Hey,” you move to face him. He looks at you in anticipation. “I’m still not going to lend you my notes—”

“—And here I thought—”

“But,” you quickly add, “if you want, I can tutor you later after class. At least I can make sure that you’re not just memorising the terms. That you really understand them.”

His eyes light up and it’s the most innocent look you’ve ever seen from the cheeky kid. “You would do that?”

“Well, yeah. They say that teaching someone else makes one better at the topic. When you ask me questions clarifying things, I’ll be able to look at them in more depth. It’s a win-win situation.”

“You’re the best!” he suddenly exclaims and proceeds on hugging you. It’s then that you realize you’re in the middle of the hallway. Kim Yugyeom’s grin as he walks towards you proves that people will think wrongly of the appreciation.

“Okay, okay, calm down,” you delicately remove yourself from the hug.

Bambam is still too elated to notice your awkwardness. “Then should we go to the café outside school? I would’ve invited you to my house but I don’t think my pets would be cooperative.”

“That’s right!” Yugyeom chimes in from behind Bambam, giving him the latter a scare. Since you saw his stealth approach, you just roll your eyes. “You really shouldn’t bring a girl home on the first date, Bambam. The coffee shop is a classy but great idea.”

“What date are you saying? We’re just going to study together!” Bambam explains.

“Ey~ you’ve been crushing on her even though we were on a different class before! That’s even why out of everyone, you wanted to get notes from her! I wholeheartedly offered you mine but I was instantly rejected!”

As your mouth drops in shock, Bambam shoves his friend away. “Because I might be the one who understands you the most but I can’t understand your handwriting at all!”

“Then if it’s not a date, can I come along? I also can’t understand most of the lessons,” Yugyeom turns to you hopefully.

“Okay,” you answer simply. Yugyeom listens to the class discussions anyway. It wouldn’t be that hard to teach him.

Right?

* * *

“I’m so tired,” you mutter to yourself while on your way home.

The review was a success but for it to be, you sacrificed a lot of power. Yugyeom might be more attentive in class but he’s quick to forget details. When the problem gets complicated, he panics and gets lost in the solution. Bambam is easier to handle since he really doesn’t know anything about the topic. He solely relies on what you’ve taught him and doesn’t get distracted by other details.

But teaching them isn’t the hardest part. It’s trying to keep their focus. They will always find something funny about the example problem, be it the names used or the situations. You really can’t keep up with them on that part so you have to wait until their laughter is over. By then, Yugyeom has already forgotten what you said before. And you have to explain it all over again.

“We won’t let Yugyeom come next time. Don’t worry,” Bambam says. He offered to walk you home since it’s already around nine in the evening. Good thing Yugyeom’s house, where you decided to review, is just a five-minute walk away from yours.

“Next time? Did you forget that this is the last time? We’re graduating. You’re even the one who said that earlier,” you say with a little laugh.

Bambam joins in but you notice how he seems to be thinking about something else. He looks up the sky as his smile fades out.

“Are you thinking about the future?” you ask, bringing his attention back to you.

“No,” he tries to lie.

You shrug. “If you say so.”

It really isn’t your business. Today, you felt yourself being closer to Bambam but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re not his _friend_ and you’ll part ways soon. But you can’t help but feel like you should say something.

Before you can think of anything though, your house comes into view.

“Um, that’s where I live,” you tell Bambam.

“Oh,” he says a little sadly. You figure he must be wanting more time with a companion.

“Tell you what, maybe we can hangout again after exams? You know, just to celebrate before we graduate and be forced to face a new world. I can help you find what you would enjoy doing or even just distract you from choosing at all.”

“You’d do that?” his eyes light up again. It’s slowly becoming your favourite expression.

“Yeah, I’ll do either. You can also bring Yugyeom if it will make you more comfortable,” you add a bit half-heartedly.

“No, I think you’ll give me a better pep talk without that giant hovering over us. I’m so happy you’re here!”

You giggle but abruptly stop when you feel him give your cheek just a graze of a kiss. Your eyes widen involuntarily and you can see clearly how Bambam is also shocked at his gesture.

“I was just really thankful,” he blurts out after a second of silence.

“Yes, of course,” you say stiffly as you feel your blood rush to your face. “I—You’re welcome.”

“Okay, uh… I should go? Yeah, I mean, I should. You go in and rest.”

“Yeah, um… take care. And… I’ll see you.”

“You will? When?”

“Um… in class tomorrow? Exams.”

“Oh… yeah. Exams,” he chuckles awkwardly.

He starts taking steps back while still facing you so he almost stumbles on a pebble. At this, you stifle laughter.

“Ah, this is so embarrassing,” you hear him mutter under his breath before finally turning around.

“See you tomorrow, Bam!” you call out.

“Yeah, see you!” he waves a hand without looking back at you.

You go inside the house but when you close the door, you hear him again.

“And I look forward to the date—I mean, pep talk!—Wait, she’s already inside?”

You bite your lip to suppress another giggle.

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested by a Tumblr mutual, so the main plot isn't mine.


End file.
